We celebrated the new year at 6pm tonight – midnight in Spain. My sister-in-law did it up right and had us over to celebrate the Spanish way. We watched the countdown in her native country, we ate 12 grapes in 12 seconds and shared a toast in fancy glasses. I think a 6pm New Year’s Eve is my new favorite: I was alert, the kids got to play along and still be in bed by 8.
Perhaps starting 2010 six hours early will be a good sign for the new year. Only time will tell. I have so enjoyed chatting it up with you in 2009 and look forward to another year of celebrating the gifts of the everyday, even in the midst of the crazy.
I think that sounds perfect. Do it at six and NOT stay up! Happy New Year.
Happy New Year, Emily!
What a great idea!
Happy New Year!
I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting you Emily and look forward to getting to know you better.
I think that way of celebrating the New Year would suit us just fine. With an empty nest one would think that we would do the New Year’s Eve thing up big – but not so much. We rarely make it up to see the New Year in. Six o’clock would suit us just fine.
Happy New Year!
We, too, are celebrating early. The kids are excited to watch the ball drop in NYC, which will happen at 7pm here. We can still party like it’s already 2010 but they can still be in bed at a decent time. Amen. I love it when I get to have my cake and eat it, too.
I’ve loved getting acquainted with you and your sister this year through your awesome blogs. May your 2010 be wildly blessed!
What fun!!!
Happy New Year Emily!!
Happy New Year, Emily!! Drop me an e-mail about you-know-what when you get the chance.
Oh an 8pm celebration sounds just right to me! I never stay up late enough to ring in the new year!! Happy happy new year to you!
I like the 12 grapes tradition! One grape per second for good luck in each year!
Tammy and Parker
http://www.prayingforparker.com
@ParkerMama on Twitter
Happy New Year!
I think celebrating at 6pm is perfect
xx
callie
Sounds like a great idea! My husband and I are night owls and have no problem burning the midnight oil, BUT the little ones are a different story. To bed they go at eight because morning comes the same time every morning regardless of bedtime!
What a fantastic idea! I will have to remember this for next year!!! Happy New Year!
Happy New Year sweet bloggy friend!
That sounds lovely. We had friends over with an 8:00 goal. Before we knew it, it was 10:00 so we celebrated with NYC. The kids were in bed by 10:30. I foresee a long nap tomorrow.
Happy 2010!
Happy New Year! What a fun and unique way to start it. What’s the purpose of the grapes?
My year started with a surprise birthday party for my cousin where I laughed my butt off for hours. I hope that’s a sign of the upcoming year!
Happy New Year to you and yours, Emily! Saying good-bye to 2009 was easy for us… rough year. Therefore, I am going to “post” in my brain the following verse for 2010:
Psalm 126:3
“The Lord has done great thing for us and we are filled with JOY!”
We stayed up for the first time in years and watched the Red Bull guy make the longest Rally car jump on record. About 5 minutes out I said “Can we just tape it and go to bed.” We didn’t, and this morning I felt like I needed a Red Bull!
Happy New Year Emily!
We didn’t come home until 1:00 and didn’t get to bed until 2:00. Which was not the greatest plan in the world. At least we have a few more days before we have to go back to work. Otherwise we might be in some serious trouble.
Happy New Year, Emily. May 2010 hold wonderful things for you and your family.
I miss the years when our kids were small and we, too, could celebrate New Years Eve early! We used our leapfrog globe and touched on different countries to celebrate New Years where it was much earlier!!! You have been a joy and inspiration to me in 2009. I am looking very forward to going deeper in 2010. Blessings!!!
Happy New Year! I’m a new subscriber and I love your blog. So cheery.
) This year was the first year that we celebrated NYE at a friend’s house with our 2 children…a two year old and a 3 month old. Needless to say, I think next year we’ll stay home. NYE don’t do much for two year olds except for make them cranky and overtired!
My mother-in-law is from Madrid and we’ve known about these traditions for years…I don’t know why I didn’t think about doing it before! Here’s a question: which site did you use to watch Spain’s NY celebrations?
What a grand idea!
We usually stay up to see the new year in. . . a tradition we started back in 1999, when we had a party in which we invited friends to come and BRING THEIR CHILDREN. Oh, my, that was a noisy celebration.
But I never thought about simply celebrating a little earlier. What fun to observe a tradition from another country and celebrate the new year in that country’s time zone! And what a good way to avoid a cranky New Year’s Day. Brilliant.
I love my daily dose of “chatting at the sky”. God bless you in 2010 and thank you for your inspiring words.
Sarah
Happy New Year, Emily! Gorgeous photo. I love it.
-Elizabeth
Happy New Year! Next year we’re going to do an earlier celebration for the kids also. We’ll watch the ball drop in NY, and put them to bed at 9pm PST.
May the Lord bless you in 2009,
Megan
Beautiful picture! I love the idea of doing it six hours earlier. My son really wanted to stay awake long enough to watch the ball drop, but more thing missed it by 20 minutes. I did try and wake him up, but no luck.
Hey, we celebrated the New Year at 6pm your time too! Of course in Germany, that was midnight, but whatever. Indy was up waiting to start the new decade and had a ball. We all (even the dogs) slept until 11:30 am on NY Day. It was a glorious way to start the new year.
We stayed up for the first time in years – I wish we hadn’t – I was sooo tired the day after and then for some insane reason we ended up late again the next night! Why do we do these things to ourselves…especially knowing our 11 mo. old will STILL wake up at 7 a.m. the following morning? Why??
Enjoying your blog – found it recently and am trying to stop by every few days to see what you’ve posted. Enjoyed some of the older posts – the one where you decorated your little girls’ bedroom w/the white Christmas lights, also the transformation of the two rooms in your house (the one w/fireplace and the one next to it), just to name a few!
Hello from a new reader. I was compelled to comment, having celebrated New Year’s Eve this year in a very similar fashion. My husband (who is from Ireland) and I celebrated with a Guinness toast at a local Irish pub at 5 PM local time, which was exactly midnight Irish time. It was such a wonderfully refreshing feeling, and one that connected us “home” to his family and my spiritual homeland. Thanks for sharing your New Year’s Eve with us!
Just trying to catch up with some reading, and wanted to make sure I wished you a Blessed and full of wonder New Year, Emily. To you, and your loved ones.
My 2009 was better because of finding you, and I hope that the days ahead bring more fabulous.
6 hours early seems to go along with the word the Lord gave to me for the year just beginning.. ACCELERATE!